Operation Timber
Background Operation Timber was a two-fold operation conducted by the House of Royal Intelligence (HRI) against its own citizens, primarily nobility within the Jod Royal Court, military officers in the Jod Military Forces, clergy within the Church of Jod, and business leaders over the course of over 10 years (20.5 BBY to 10 BBY). The operation's conclusion ultimately lead to the full implementation of the Military Modernization Program and the King II-class Battleship, among other military improvements. Part I & Part II: "Candle Light" / "Darkness" Operation Timber was divided into two parts, Part 1 (Candle Light) & Part II (Darkness). Part I (Candle Light) The first part of the operation---''Candle Light'' and only lasting 6 months---was the targeted Black Bag Operation carried out by the HRI against several nobility within the Jod Royal Court, as well as the Jod Military Forces, Church of Jod clergy, and business leaders that identified, confirmed or discovered, and shed light on the large scale corruption and rebellious nature of several highly placed clergy, civilian and military officials & leaders. The information is said to have been linked, as well, to the purposefully botched King I-class Battlecruiser. The more damaging parts of the information gathering was the extent to which certain individuals would go to ensure that they had the upper hand against the Jod Royal House---many in power simply thought they ran the shots, not the Royal House---and truth be told, sometimes they weren't far from that truth with the under-the-table deals, bribery, and other criminal behavior. Through the course of the immediate 6 month investigation and the following 10 years of investigations through secret surveillance of targets, the House of Royal Intelligence discovered---at times, elaborate---schemes to keep the Jod Royal Court & Church of Jod in power behind the scenes and thus circumvent the true power of the monarchy through bribery, pay-to-play, cronyism outside of the accepted Lordship, kleptocracy, and even simony from the Church of Jod itself. Most troubling were several connections to long ago enemies in the Confederates & the banished Truth Movement and the willingness for several nobility to even sell their own Kingdom out to the Outside Galaxy for wealth, power, & even fame. Worse yet, most of the damage was already done. Even the HRI had to clean house with several internal investigations that, apparently, helped fuel the decades-long corruption from the nobility, military, clergy, and business leaders. Part II (Darkness) Once the dreadful information was quietly confirmed, the House of Royal Intelligence carried out the second part of their operation (Darkness): a rather ruthless and bloody Black Operation against the offenders over the course of ten years, continuing information gathering operations against their targets and their contacts as they hunted their prey and discovered their criminal, business, and communication networks. The operation was purposefully planned over a decade, using criminal organizations and other personal family vendettas as cover for the true hitmen (the HRI), to make the killings look too randomly spaced and too far separated or related to connect it to any type of killing spree. To this day, no one knows who ordered the mafia-style slayings and what role---''if any''---the HRI had over the ten years. Some of the offenders were gunned down in the middle of a street in broad daylight, others at work, in church, some on vacation, and even others in front of their families over dinner. Some of the offenders' whole families were killed off completely due to the extent of the corruption, including children. Once dots were connected, very few were spared. Caught off guard and humiliated by the information discovered in Candle Light & Darkness, the House of Royal Intelligence indulged itself in brutal, blatant, and overly violent tactics to make an example of those killed or injured to those lucky enough to be chosen to live or survive their day of judgement. A Few Kept Alive---and the future Jod Civil War in 0 BBY A handful of the offenders were selectively chosen by the HRI to be kept alive and weren't even targeted during the killings, however were and still are under constant surveillance by the HRI. This was done to ensure that the HRI could still trace the criminal & rebellious activities, which would become useful during the Jod Civil War in 0 BBY, ensuring that the HRI and the Jod Royal House were always the true puppet masters of the civil war behind the scenes. Conclusion & Results Once Operation Timber was completed in various stages and---finally---in its entirety, both the House of Royal Intelligence and the Jod Royal House ensured that next-in-line succession of those traitors murdered were loyal to the Jod Royal House. Once that was done, King Alex "The Just" pushed forward his Military Modernization Program or MMP, which now, was very unlikely to hit the political & military roadblocks it had in years past. Category:Records & Orders Category:Kingdom of Jod